HMS Iron Duke (F234)

HMS Iron Duke is back in home waters having completed a successful six-month deployment in northern Europe. She clocked up more than 22,500 nautical miles in her 180 days away, working alongside NATO allies in a series of exercises.

The ship saw a deployment of two halves with the first spent in the extreme cold and rough seas off Norway and the second in the calm seas of the Baltic.

Through war-fighting exercises, transits and patrols through these regions, the ship visited 19 ports in 10 different countries. Along the way the 185 ship’s company took part in a number of major NATO exercises including Cold Response, Joint Warrior and Baltops 16.

Baltops is one of the largest and most comprehensive exercises run by NATO with 4,000 personnel from 16 nations taking part with more than 40 ships, submarines and over 60 aircraft. The annual exercise is intended to hone the ability of allied and partner nations to work alongside each other.

HMS Iron Duke took on lead role in a task group of enemy forces providing participants a realistic and complex threat to counter as part of the exercise.

The ship also demonstrated the UK’s commitment to NATO and its Baltic allies through a significant amount of defence engagement in the region.